Why girls cut themselves

Cutters sometimes cut in secret. The more hidden the scars are, the more severe the problem of self-harm tends to be. Individuals with self-harm issues also cut their breast, thighs, back, hips, and legs. The cutting can be random or very ordered and sequenced. There can be large cuts, or small marks grouped together i. One severe cutter I worked with described a precise system for her cutting.

She would cut herself four times, two inches apart between cuts. Cutting for her was a ritual that was reinforced by her struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder. Another prevalent form of self-harm is branding or burning. Rubbing an eraser against the skin can also cause a friction burn.

This form of self-harm is often seen in the adolescent population. When a cutter does not have a sharp object they may use a fingernail. Many individuals that struggle with self-harm have experienced some sort of trauma in their past. This could include childhood sexual, emotional or physical abuse, real or perceived abandonment or neglect by a caregiver, death or divorce. As mentioned above, self-harm is a coping strategy to deal with emotional pain.

Individuals that self-harm dissociate from the emotional pain by feeling physical pain. Others who self-harm feel that when they self-harm, they have a sense of control over their emotions.

Some believe they deserve to be punished for past issues; others use self-harm to re-enact abuse. She felt like she needed to release the poison by cutting herself. She had experienced sexual trauma. Although it is difficult to say what makes one person self-harm and another not, there tend to be individuals who are at higher risk for developing self-harm behaviors.

These include:. Most people who self-harm start at around age Some continue to self-harm into their twenties. While self-harm behavior worked as a coping strategy in their teens, some individuals find that it is not as helpful or as socially acceptable when they get older. If the individual does not resolve the issues behind the self-harm behavior, then self-harm behavior may morph into other addictive behaviors, such as drugs, alcohol, and promiscuity.

There can be a link between self-harm and childhood trauma like physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Other links include mental health issues like:. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine estimates that 1 to 4 percent of adults and approximately 15 percent of teens in the United States engage in self-harm. College students appear to be the group at the greatest risk with rates ranging from 17 to 35 percent.

Psychologist Dr. Vijayeta Sinh, PhD, owner of NYC Family Therapy , says children as young as 9 and 10, teens, college students, and even adults in their 40s and 50s cut.

Kirsten began cutting when she was 13 years old after her father made an insensitive comment about her acne. Her self-esteem, she says, was already low.

Penny, 36, first cut herself when she was 15 years old as a way of dealing with the emotional pain of having been raped by a family friend. She cut when she was depressed and would shut down emotionally.

SIRRR reports that self-harm can be cyclical. Someone may cut frequently and then stop for long periods before relapsing. After suffering physical and verbal abuse at the hands of her older brother, she cut herself from ages 11 to People who cut often describe a specific type of high, relief, connectedness, or sense of calm.

The euphoria Brandy describes may be attributed to endorphins the body releases when we get injured. It can be hard to understand why a teen would deliberately self-injure, and worrisome to think your teen — or one of your teen's friends — could be at risk. But parents who are aware of this important issue and understand the emotional pain it can signal are in a position to help.

Someone who cuts uses a sharp object to make marks, cuts, or scratches on the body on purpose — enough to break the skin and cause bleeding. People typically cut themselves on their wrists, forearms, thighs, or belly. They might use a razorblade, knife, scissors, a metal tab from a soda can, the end of a paper clip, a nail file, or a pen.

Some people burn their skin with the end of a cigarette or lighted match. Most people who self-injure are girls, but guys do it too. It usually starts during the teen years and can continue into adulthood. In some cases, there's a family history of cutting. A sense of shame and secrecy often goes along with cutting. Most teens who cut hide the marks and if they're noticed, make up excuses about them. Some teens don't try to hide cuts and might even call attention to them.

Cutting often begins as an impulse. But many teens discover that once they start to cut, they do it more and more, and can have trouble stopping.

Many teens who self-injure report that cutting provides a sense of relief from deep painful emotions. Because of this, cutting is a behavior that tends to reinforce itself.

Cutting can become a teen's habitual way to respond to pressures and unbearable feelings. Many say they feel "addicted" to the behavior. Some would like to stop but don't know how or feel they can't. Other teens don't want to stop cutting. Most of the time, cutting is not a suicide attempt. But sadly, people often underestimate the potential to get seriously sick or hurt through bleeding or infections that go along with cutting. Powerful overwhelming emotions. Most teens who cut are struggling with powerful emotions.

To them, cutting might seem like the only way to express or interrupt feelings that seem too intense to endure. Emotional pain over rejection, lost or broken relationships, or deep grief can be overwhelming for some teens. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors.

It can be hard to imagine why anyone would want to cut themselves or hurt themselves on purpose. And for parents who discover their teen is engaging in self-injury, it can be confusing, terrifying, and downright frustrating. Self-harm can be fairly common among teens.

Fortunately, with support most teens learn healthier coping skills and stop self-injury. Self-harm describes any deliberate action intended to cause physical pain. Adolescent males engage in this behavior too, but it is most often females who hurt their bodies in an attempt to deal with difficult feelings or situations. Cutting or scratching the skin with razor blades or other sharp objects is the most common form of self-injury. Other ways to self-harm include:. Teens who hurt themselves aren't crazy and their self-injury doesn't mean they're suicidal.

Instead, it just means they're having trouble coping with their pain in a healthy manner. The physical act of hurting their bodies provides a temporary sense of emotional relief. A teen who cuts himself or burns himself begins to focus on the injury as the reason for the pain. It also provides a sense of control. A teen who engages in self-injury is likely to feel like they can control the pain better. In addition, the injury releases endorphins into the bloodstream, which also provides a temporary boost of mood.

So a stressed-out teen may cut their arms as a way to relieve stress. Or a teen who is struggling to deal with a breakup may cut their chest as a way to experience physical pain, as opposed to just emotional pain.